


At Midnight

by torestoreamends



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Burrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8912305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torestoreamends/pseuds/torestoreamends
Summary: Scorpius has never been very good at talking to Rose, but he’s determined to have a proper conversation with her at some point. It’s midnight on Christmas Eve when he finally manages it. 
Beta'd by Abradystrix.





	

Scorpius sits on the back doorstep of the Burrow and rubs his gloved hands together. It's Christmas Eve, almost midnight, and it's freezing cold. The garden is covered with a silver glazing of frost, and the stars overhead sparkle through a thin veil of wispy grey cloud. Scorpius's breath mists in the air in front of him, and he watches a couple of gnomes cackling madly as they sprint through the shaft of golden light, which spills across the garden from the open kitchen door. 

He's starting to shiver a bit, even though he's wearing his coat. It's been a while since he came outside, and the cold is starting to seep into his bones. His cheeks feel raw from it, and he sits on his hands to try and warm them up.

The sound of distant music, clinking glasses, and chatter floats out from inside the house. It's the sort of happy gathering he's still not entirely used to, even though he's been to plenty of them in the last year and a bit. He spent his childhood enjoying Christmases in solitude at the Manor, with just his mum and dad. There was the occasional party, but they made his head spin, made him feel exhausted and a little bit overwhelmed. Too many people. And then more recently it's been just him and his dad, or just him and Albus, so he's still trying to wrap his head around the way he's been absorbed into the vast extended Weasley family. It's a lot to take in sometimes. 

Of course, the image of his dad crammed onto one of the Weasley's squashy sofas between Harry and a rather disgruntled Ron – wearing a ridiculous Christmas jumper, a glass of wine in his hand – is a really good one. Scorpius has never been so happy. His heart constantly glows, and he's certain his mum would be proud of them. But it's a big change, and even good changes take some getting used to. 

"Are you going to stay out here all night?" 

Scorpius jumps and looks up. Rose is leaning in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed. Her Gryffindor scarf is wound round her neck and tucked into a burgundy wool coat, and she's wearing a knitted hat with a fluffy bobble - Albus said earlier the bobble makes it look like there's a Pygmy Puff sitting on her head, but Scorpius secretly thinks it looks nice. She has a thick, warm-looking pair of gloves on her hands too, and Scorpius is a bit jealous of them. His own gloves were a birthday present from his dad, but they aren't that warm. His dad seems to favour the impression clothes give over their functionality, a world view Scorpius doesn't entirely agree with, but he does love these gloves, even if the tips of his fingers are starting to freeze. 

"You're staring at me," Rose says, giving him a look. 

Scorpius shakes himself and ducks his head, cheeks heating a little. "Your gloves," he says. "They're nice. They look very warm. Where are they from?" 

"Granny knitted them for me. She weaved a permanent Warming Charm in." There's a distinct note of pride in her voice, and Scorpius smiles. 

"Your granny's knitting is legendary," he says.

"I know," Rose says, and he can hear her grin. It makes his own smile widen even more.

He tucks a bit of hair behind his ear and trains his eyes on the ground. He expects her to go back inside the house during the intervening silence, but she doesn't. The door clicks shut, and she nudges a hand against his shoulder. 

"Budge over." 

Scorpius glances up at her in surprise, then hastily shuffles sideways to make room for her. He tucks his hands into his pockets and makes himself as small as possible. She skips down the step and sits next to him.

"Dad kept complaining he was cold," she says. "There was a draught from the door. Did you know you've been out here for ages? It's nearly midnight." She looks across at him. "What are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to get some fresh air," Scorpius says.

Rose hugs herself. "Well it's definitely fresh. It's freezing." She starts rubbing her arms to try and warm herself up, coat rustling. 

Scorpius watches her, trying to think of something to say. His brain normally melts into a rambling mess whenever she's around, and he always says the most stupid things, but this time he's going to do better. This time he isn't going to embarrass himself. 

"It's good, isn't it," he says, then quickly gestures to the door to clarify. "The party, I mean. I'm not really used to them. Parties. But this is a good one. Excellent crackers." He mimes pulling a cracker, then realises how ridiculous he looks and promptly sits on his hands. Apparently he's incapable of not rambling at Rose.

Rose smirks at him. "Crackers? Really Scorpius?"

"I like crackers!" He protests.

"Just like you like bread." 

Scorpius's cheeks burn and he leaps to his own defence. "I think you'll find bread is very important. You can't have toast without bread. You can't have sandwiches without bread. Even soup is better when you have bread with it. The quality of the bread is directly proportional to the quality of the meal in so many cases. Bread keeps people alive, Rose. Don't underestimate the power of bread." 

Rose snorts. "You're strange."

Scorpius folds his arms and turns away from her. "My mum always said it's good to be different." Out of the corner of his eye he can see Rose watching him. He tries to ignore her. She'll probably get bored and go away in a minute. 

He blows on his hands to warm them up, then tucks them into his armpits and curls in on himself. In the distance he can see the lights of Ottery St Catchpole glittering. The church is perched up on the side of a little hill, and a rainbow of colours flood out through the stained-glass. It reminds him a bit of St Jerome's, how it had shone like a beacon in the darkness on Hallow's Eve last year. It also reminds him of the church he used to go to with his mum sometimes. They would go to Midnight Mass every year, and she would sing all the Muggle Christmas carols at the top of her lungs, and he would join in. The thought of it makes him miss her terribly. 

"What are you thinking about?" Rose asks, and looks across to see her watching him. 

"Just about the church," he says. "And Mum." 

Rose bows her head. "Of course... I'm sorry." 

"No," he says lightly. "It's okay." 

For a very long moment they fall into silence again. Scorpius spends the time tying and retying his shoelaces. Rose bounces one foot on the floor, and apparently she's working up to something, because her voice cuts through the still air.

"Scorpius..." Rose says, slowly, like she's testing his name out for the first time.

He looks round at her, and sees her hands are knotted together in her lap. "Rose," he says, just because he likes saying her name. 

"I don't think I ever said thank you," she says. He waits for her to clarify, but she's looking at him like she expects him to know what she's talking about. 

"For...? He asks. His heart is pounding and he doesn't know what to do with his hands. He tucks them up inside his sleeves, then thinks better of it adjusts his scarf and hat. Then he sits on them, but that makes him feel restricted, so he starts tucking his hair behind his ears instead. 

"You know what for," she says. 

"No..." Scorpius replies. "I definitely don't." 

She groans. "For saving my life, obviously." 

Scorpius stares at her, utterly perplexed. "I don't remember saving your-"

"When you were in that other world," she says, tutting. "The one with Voldemort. You got me back." 

Scorpius shakes his head, still confused. "But it's mine and Albus's fault that you and Hugo got disappeared in the first place. I helped do that. And Albus came up with the plan for fixing the second task. I didn't-"

"You know," Rose says casually, cutting across him. "Albus told James, who told me, that you were really upset about me being disappeared." 

"Of course I was," Scorpius says. "Just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't make me incapable of compassion, you know." 

"And the truth is," Rose continues, ignoring him, "that you were alone in that world with Voldemort. Albus wasn't there. I suppose my mum and dad were, but you still had to convince them. And if you hadn't done that we would all be dead, including you, but I  _think_ the point still stands." 

"I didn't much like the idea of a world without you," Scorpius says, looking out at the pinpricks of light scattered across the dark countryside. "I missed you. Imagine if I'd never got to do Prefect duty with you..." 

"How would you have coped?" Rose asks, grinning. "You need me to wrangle the third years." 

Scorpius shakes his head. "No, don't talk to me about them. This is supposed to be my holiday, I don't want to think about them." He turns to Rose. "How can they be so awful? I'm sure I was never that horrible when I was their age." 

"No comment," Rose says, smirking. 

"I suppose you never thought I was horrible though," Scorpius says, gazing up at the stars. "I was just a Malfoy. Or maybe that's the same thing?" He glances sideways at her, smiling. It was supposed to come out teasing, but maybe he misjudged, because Rose's expression is deadly serious.

"I don't think you're that bad," she says. "Your family. I think your dad is- He was in Godric's Hollow with my mum and dad, and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. And you're..." She studies Scorpius for a moment. "A friend. You aren't completely loathsome. Sometimes I think I might quite like you." The sparkling brightness is back in her eyes, and a little smile curls across her lips.

As Scorpius opens his mouth to speak he's saved from the embarrassment of whatever rambling mess was about to fall out of his mouth. Across the valley the church bells start to chime out a merry peal, echoing the jubilation in Scorpius's heart.  _Rose quite likes him._

"I think it's midnight," Rose says, interrupting his internal celebration, and looking over towards the church.

"Yeah," Scorpius says, staring at her.

She glances at him. "Close your mouth when you're looking at me, Malfoy." 

Scorpius snaps his mouth shut and hurriedly shoots to his feet. "Well. Do you think we should go inside? Doesn't your family do that present thing where you get to open one at midnight? I'd hate to deprive you of gifts." 

Rose gets up. "Gifts are almost as good as bread," she says. And as her eyes twinkle like fairy lights through the darkness, and the church bells sing a song of joy, and their breath mingles in a silvery veil between them, she leans across and kisses Scorpius on the cheek. 

It's a sudden movement, so quick it might have been his imagination. He only knows it happened because of the tell-tale heat from the press of her lips against his frozen skin. And before he can really begin to comprehend what she did, she turns away and hops up the steps. "Merry Christmas, Scorpius." 

"Yes," he chokes out, as his brain struggles to catch up. "Merry Christmas, Rose." 

The kitchen door opens, then closes, and he hears her voice calling through to the front room, loud and excitable and just plain wonderful. He sinks back down onto the doorstep in complete shock as his legs give way beneath him. This might be the best Christmas ever, and it's only just begun. 


End file.
